"The Lesbian Herstory Archives of New York City, the largest and oldest Lesbian archive in the world, began in 1973 as an outgrowth of a Lesbian consciousness-raising group at the Gay Academic Union. The founders were concerned about the failure of mainstream publishers, libraries, archives, and research institutions to value Lesbian culture. It became obvious that the only way to insure the preservation of Lesbian culture and history was to establish an independent archives governed by Lesbians."